Holy Cross Father Frank Zlotkowski could have one of the most difficult of ministries. He is hospital chaplain, at times dealing with families who need comfort as a loved ones dies or sitting with patients who are at the end of life and need prayer and closure. “But there are also celebrations. births and successful surgeries,” Father Zlotkowski points out. He is the staff priest chaplain at the Seton Healthcare Family of Hospitals in Austin. He offices at Dell Seton Medical Center with Father Tommy Sebastian. On any given day, the priests and volunteers minister to as many as 1,300 patients in eight hospitals in Central Texas. “I celebrate the power of God in the midst of tragedies,” he said. “I look for and attempt to look for and see the presence of Jesus in hospitals.” His work goes hand in hand with Seton’s No One Dies Alone, a program in which volunteers sit with patients who are at the end of their lives and have no one with them. “This is what Jesus would do,” Father Zlotkowski said. The 72-year-old priest does not show his age. He has been in religious life for 54 years as a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross, an international religious community of priests and brothers. The influence to his current work came when he was a 17-year-old high school student. His father was electrocuted in an industrial accident. “It was the tragedy of that and a parish priest who was with me. I saw it as a gift in journeying with others in tragedy,” Father Zlotkowski said. Eventually, he became a board certified chaplain with the National Association of Catholic Chaplains. “The added training deals with the complexity of people’s lives,” he said, pointing out that many of the families he meets are not of the Catholic faith. He is the initial spiritual caregiver present in a hospital, but he also connects people with their churches. He often calls on colleagues to intervene when a Spanish speaker is needed or a woman is needed to talk to a rape victim. The work is not therapy nor do chaplains offer magic. “I can walk into a room and people see me wearing this suit (his clerics) but I know my role. I will get people a drink of water, a box of tissues, sit in silence and talk to doctors. I’ve been called to be in that room to be with people. I learn of their situations. I may or may not use Scripture or prayer. I sometimes have to get out of the way,” he said. The approach goes with Father Zlotkowski’s motto of “listening to the who before the do. I first get names, and I listen to who people are. You go gently. I trust in God’s spirit to lead me where I need to be.” He uses this example to make his point. “I can walk into an emergency situation and Mrs. Robinson is a Pentecostal woman who asks me, ‘Have you been saved?’ I don’t push back. I don’t react to triggers of fear, doubt and sadness. In Mrs. Robinson, I can hear her fear,” he said. He doesn’t question his presence or purpose. “All ministries and life is a mystery. Why am I a priest? I don’t know. I trust God called me to be a priest and gave me this gift to do what I do,” he said. End-of-life issues are a challenge for patients, their families and those who minister to them. “It’s always frightening, but the staff here are under Catholic directives. First comes the dignity of the patient,” he said. It’s common to talk with families about insurance and paying for care. “We walk this journey together with religious and ethics directives.” As a priest, he celebrates Mass daily and offers the sacraments, including reconciliation and the anointing of the sick. He also brings the Eucharist to Catholics before they die. “I will say, John, my brother, go forth in this world in the name of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies you,” he said. It’s not all solemn. “There is joy in the majority of what I see in this ministry — the awesome joy of seeing in people the recognition of God,” he said.